Arizona is considering legislation that would let parents see the text messages on the phones of their children, if they're under the age of 18. The bill is proposed by a state senator who has six daughters -- with understandable concerns for their safety and the safety of other minors who might be victims of harassment or bullying.

Senate Bill 1219 would let wireless carriers charge parents to see their kids' text messages, which right now can only be viewed by parents who obtain a court order. If the law passes, carriers would still need to get consent first from the minor before allowing parents to view the messages.

“If I have a 13-year-old being harassed via text, I can’t call and get those texts,” State Sen. Rich Crandall, who's proposing the law, told the Arizona Republic. “This bill will allow me to at least pay to see the text messages for my children."

CTIA, the trade industry association that represents U.S. wireless carriers, is against the legislation, saying it will not only conflict with federal law, but also be unrealistic.

"Under federal law, electronic communication service providers must obtain consent from the content originator, which would be the children, not their parents," said Jamie Hastings, CTIA vice president, external and state affairs, in a statement to msnbc.com.

"Effectively obtaining consent is quite unworkable. Moreover, even if consent was obtained, consent does not last indefinitely for all future communications; effective consent can be revoked at any time. Ultimately, there is no way for a wireless provider to know whether consent obtained in the past still applies to text messages sent several months or years later. If this law was passed, a service provider, once receiving a parental request, would have to either independently obtain consent from a minor child or risk violating either state or federal law."

The bill has been approved by the state Senate's Judiciary Committee, but has some more hurdles ahead. It requires approval by the state Senate, then the House and finally, the governor.

Another state senator proposed a less-complicated, but also less virtuous approach for parents who want to see their kids' text messages.

"Why don't you take a flashlight and go in the closet and read the texts?" said state Sen. Judy Burges, a member of Judiciary Committee who voted against the legislation.

Makes sense, if the parent is paying for the phone and service in their name they should be able to see what is going on. I'm sure if parents could see this information many lives could be saved due to the fact they can see what kids are saying to each other. Because we all know kids lie to their parents, parents asks one thing and the kids says something just to make them happy and get the parents off their back.

This makes perfect sense though. You can now get records from your wireless provider, for a fee, to bring to police, or your school(who CAN'T obtain a court order). This still leaves the court order approach open too. This is invaluable in cases where a student is being bullied. It's not a nanny state bill either, because the kid has to consent to it.

Fix your title. In reality, this bill just lets you access your wireless history for a fee. It has nothing do with tracking your kids. We'll finally be able to see records that weren't available to us before.

I love how the bill is basically winning over all the wireless carriers by already including the fact it will be a paid service. Get laws to protect kids from being exposed to bullying over texting and get more money in services for the carriers! Win/Win! I'm also guessing the senator is Republican family conservative moron who doesn't support birth control, hence his six daughters.

I love how the bill is basically winning over all the wireless carriers by already including the fact it will be a paid service. Get laws to protect kids from being exposed to bullying over texting and get more money in services for the carriers! Win/Win! I'm also guessing the senator is Republican family conservative moron who doesn't support birth control, hence his six daughters.

And it'll probably be a nominal fee, such as the one you pay when you ask for very old account statements from your bank, basically a processing fee. These texts could be so old, they could be in a detached archive system that requires employee time to recover. A fee sounds fine to me.

For anyone who is in Arizona and doesn't want their parents to see their text messages, don't use text messages, they are not secure in the first place. You are better off using Google Talk or something like that.

For anyone who is in Arizona and doesn't want their parents to see their text messages, don't use text messages, they are not secure in the first place. You are better off using Google Talk or something like that.

Not everyone has a smartphone y'know.
Also GTalk requires data.
So yeah, that's not exactly the smartest post you've made.

If the kid consents to the parent being allowed to view their text why have the law in the first place? Surely the kid could just show the parent the message on the phone rather than go through the extra cost and legal hassle.

Generally teaching your kid that it's okay to be constantly monitored and making shitty parents rely on the legal system to have an authority over their children is not a good idea.

Well parents are the ones paying for this service if they're paying the cell bill
Since it says that one must consent to be monitored, if a kid were to pay his own cell bill they couldn't be monitored so

Well parents are the ones paying for this service if they're paying the cell bill
Since it says that one must consent to be monitored, if a kid were to pay his own cell bill they couldn't be monitored so

So basically you have to pay for your own freedom, okay

Edited:

Also I doubt parents willing to use this stupid law will actually ask their kid to agree with it. They'll just assume they agree or force them to consent.